Benefits of campus hiring: Why companies invest in fresh talent-focused products

Campus hiring strategies are of utmost importance today. Almost 74 per cent of organisations are focusing their recruitment strategies on diversity and inclusion, and campus hiring allows them to diversify their recruitment pipeline with candidates who come from a wide array of backgrounds.

What is campus hiring?

“Employers prefer to hire from campuses of colleges and universities. Campus recruitment allows students to gain insights into their job roles and workplace culture, also empowering employers to hire fresh, creative, enthusiastic, and loyal talent.”

- Siddhartha Gupta, CEO, Mercer | Mettl

(How Virtual Campus Hiring Is Increasing Job Opportunities For Students, 2021)

Campus hiring refers to strategies that involve sourcing, engaging, and hiring fresh talent from universities and colleges. Campus hiring is a targeted strategy that organisations employ to attract top talent early in their academic career. The primary focus of these strategies is to identify and hire potential candidates with the skills, knowledge, and qualifications that are required by the organisation. Engaging with college students allows organisations to build relationships, evaluate competencies, and secure skilled candidates even before they enter the job market. Typically, organisations opt for campus hiring strategies for high-volume recruitment requirements.

The significance of campus hiring

Recruiting from colleges and universities is not a new concept, but it has become crucial for organisations today that want to stay relevant in the industry. Seventy-five percent of organisations find it difficult to fill open positions, and the recent talent shortage is another aspect that is weighing heavily on recruitment practices. In this landscape, colleges and universities offer a great pool of fresh, educated, and ready-to-work talent. University recruitment offers organisations the opportunity to put their brand right in front of the next generation so they can get to know the company.

Benefits of campus hiring

Access to fresh talent

According to a survey conducted by the National Association of Colleges and Employers, 91 per cent of organisations consider recruitment from colleges and universities to be an essential part of their talent acquisition strategy. With campus hiring, organisations can tap into a pool of young talent that can also bring new perspectives, innovations, and the latest knowledge from their academic experience.

Cost-effective recruitment

With a proper campus hiring strategy in place, organisations can save a lot of time, resources, and costs, especially when recruiting for entry-level positions. By establishing relationships with colleges and universities, companies can also reduce costs associated with job post advertisements and hiring through external agencies. Additionally, hiring freshers and nurturing them into becoming resourceful employees can save the organisation significant money in the long run.

A diverse pool of candidates

Seventy-four percent of employers consider diversity and inclusion to be one of the primary reasons for participating in campus recruitment. Campus hiring offers recruiters access to a diverse pool of potential candidates from different academic backgrounds and possessing diverse skill sets. This proves to be highly beneficial for organisations that want to hire candidates with unique experiences who can contribute to the success of the business.

Employer branding

Campus recruitment drives are an opportunity for organisations to create brand awareness among students, which helps attract talent in the future as well. At these drives, organisations can showcase their values, company culture, and available job opportunities to graduate and post-graduate students. This helps build positive brand recognition and increases interest from potential job seekers. According to a survey by the Society for Human Resource Management, 85 per cent of organisations consider campus hiring to be an essential part of attracting top talent and building their employer brand.

Workforce planning

For 84 per cent of organisations, campus hiring forms a strategy for addressing long-term recruitment needs. Engaging students during their academic pursuits allows recruiters to identify talent that can be developed according to the organisation’s future requirements.

Current trends in campus hiring

"Virtual campus hiring solutions are a great way for organisations to keep up with the hiring momentum and maintain their business sustainability in these challenging times. Campus establishments, too, are exploring ways to make campus placements smooth for their students. These new-age solutions ensure hiring from campuses are neither delayed nor fraught with contagion risks while maintaining the credibility of the processes."

- Siddhartha Gupta, CEO, Mercer | Mettl

(Companies Shifting to Virtual Campus Placements this Season: Mercer | Mettl Report, 2020)

Virtual recruitment

The way recruiters connect with prospective candidates has changed significantly, with virtual campus hiring becoming the widely accepted norm. Technological advancements have expanded the reach of recruitment practices and aligned recruitment efforts with the preferences of the tech-savvy generation. Virtual campus hiring offers organisations a dynamic platform for engaging with students conveniently and for remote interviews, online assessments, and virtual career fairs, which have gained a lot of traction recently.

Diversity and inclusion

Ensuring diversity and inclusion has become essential for any organisation to succeed. Whether it is the integration of inclusive hiring practices or building partnerships with student organisations, companies are focusing on promoting diversity through various targeted initiatives.

Increasing focus on soft skills

Technical skills have always been a crucial requirement during recruitment, but in recent years, a growing focus on soft skills has been witnessed. Problem-solving skills, communication skills, and adaptability are some of the competencies that have become important requirements for organisations.

Impact of data analytics and AI

AI and data analytics have helped streamline end-to-end recruitment processes, from screening candidates using online assessments to providing recruiters with predictive analysis for the likelihood of candidates succeeding in specific job roles. The data-driven approach helps improve efficiency and removes biases from the recruitment process.

The role of campus recruitment tools

A well-thought-out campus recruitment strategy takes time and resources, and it is crucial for organisations to break away from traditional hiring processes and adopt a holistic virtual hiring process. Recruiters need to utilize campus hiring tools that are designed to optimize the processes. The capabilities offered by campus recruitment tools should cover all aspects, from job postings and conducting interviews to candidate management and assessment.

Building an effective campus hiring strategy

• Build a hiring plan
• Select relevant hiring partners
• Build campus intelligence by collating data and experiences of previous recruitment drives
• Create a strong recruitment team of engaged employees
• Leverage social media platforms to market the recruitment drive
• Create interactive career pages to entice talent
• Strategize a campus ambassador program
• Implement student referral programs
• Engage and connect with candidates
• Identify efficient tools for assessing students
• Integrate simulator-based screening processes
• Conduct effective, structured virtual interviews
• Plan virtual onboarding procedures
• Measure the effectiveness of the implemented strategy

Identifying effective tools

“… we need to establish and standardize the meaning of talent in the current climate. A framework needs to be put in place to assess talent—scientifically, authentically and credibly. A synergy needs to exist between mapping talent and its assessment. In the current context, talent is defined either as digital competency, communication skills or business agility. Assessments are defined and done basis this.”

- Siddhartha Gupta, CEO, Mercer | Mettl

(India 2030: Vision of assessments in creating a skilled nation, 2022)

Skills assessment is one of the most important steps in a campus recruitment drive, as it is essential for recruiters to be able to tap into the potential of the students through scientifically validated assessments. Online screening assessments can help improve hiring decisions, as they have a direct correlation with on-the-job success and ensure a cultural fit. Using advanced screening assessments and tools can provide important data that can be analysed to predict hiring outcomes.

Types of screening assessments that organisations can administer

• Technical assessments: These tests evaluate candidates for their functional knowledge by giving them multiple problems that they must assess comprehensively and provide solutions to. Coding simulators are another tool that organisations can consider for simulating real-world coding problems for candidates.
• Soft skills assessments: Tests for assessing the English language-based communication skills of candidates are also important to make informed hiring decisions. Such tests generally comprise various sections that evaluate the speaking skills, writing, reading comprehension, pronunciation, fluency, vocabulary, and other communication-related subskills of candidates.
• Aptitude assessments: Aptitude tests evaluate the numerical ability, problem-solving skills, critical thinking, and reasoning skills of candidates.

How Mercer | Mettl can help

"Our online screening tools and powerful proctoring technology help screen candidates remotely. We also customize the right set of assessments through our coding, technical, aptitude, communication and psychometric evaluation tools. The process enables colleges and universities to conduct digital, effective and hassle-free remote campus hiring."

- Siddhartha Gupta, CEO, Mercer | Mettl

(Mercer | Mettl launches virtual platform for campus placements, 2021)

Mercer | Mettl has developed an innovative digital platform for organisations to conduct virtual campus hiring processes. The platform replicates the step-by-step processes of traditional campus hiring drives online. The platform automates campus hiring processes and eliminates several challenges that used to be associated with traditional recruitment drives. It empowers recruiters to identify and hire top talent based on data-backed assessments. Virtual campus hiring is an effective way to onboard a superior talent pool of fresh graduates, and with Mercer | Mettl’s range of hiring solutions, organisations can streamline their campus hiring strategies with ease.

(This article is part of IndiaDotCom Pvt Ltd’s Consumer Connect Initiative, a paid publication programme. IDPL claims no editorial involvement and assumes no responsibility, liability or claims for any errors or omissions in the content of the article. The IDPL Editorial team is not responsible for this content.)